Wednesday, 30 May 2012

To get things started, beginning the theme and idea of showcasing
suburban areas of interest, I ventured out for a 10 minute walk up my local
main road, Turves Green. There’s a place up here, hardly anyone knows it’s
there, I expect not many more people know what it is (or was). Hidden behind a
power substation, down a little cul-de-sac, at the base of a tower block, are
the remains of a moat.

This moat once upon a time actually had water in it – the last
time I was there (at least 5 years ago) there was some water (and even a token
shopping trolley) in it. Today, I was actually really upset to see the state it
is in!! The moat has always been overgrown, but now it actually looks so
silted, it’s trying to be a meadow or something. It doesn’t surprise me that it
has come to be this way – this part of Birmingham isn't exactly on the receiving
end of council funding very often and I don’t think there have ever been
volunteers or rangers for this site. Anyway, I digress.

The part of the moat that held water has a fence around it,
but if you walk between the bungalows and the tower block, on either side of
the raised path section, the dips in the ground are actually sections of dry
moat which are grassed over. The sides of the dry moats are brilliant for
sliding down when we have enough snow! Yes I’m speaking from experience…

So why is there a moat, hidden away from view in Northfield?
Well, there used to be a manor house here! And it turns out that this site is a
quite important site of archaeology in Birmingham. Who’d a thunked it. You can download a rather outdated pdf from Birmingham.gov
here.

Hawkesley House is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, though
there isn’t really much to look at. It was a settlement site from the 11th
Century, and the moat added in the 13th. This website has a picture of the moat with water in! This is a very old photo – the flats
have had a makeover in recent years and are now white. When I was at school, we
came to this site as an afternoon trip, and it’s where I first learnt the basis
of geophysics and how it can be used to see subsurface features. People probably
don’t associate Northfield with history, or anything remotely
manor-house-esque, but here it is, right on many peoples doorsteps!

If I'm entirely honest, there isn't much to see here, but it's the sense of history you get from walking around the site, especially if you've read up on it. You can begin to imagine where the house was; what this area looked like when it was countryside; what the moat was like when it was all full of water; what life was really like. In a way, it's quite humbling.

So how does one get to this area?

From Birmingham City Centre/Cotteridge/Stirchley – take the 47 towards Cofton Hackett and sit on it for
a good 40 minutes. Ask the driver to set you down at Albert Bradbeer School on
Turves Green. To get to the moat, you will need to cross onto the side that has
the substation, and walk down Munslow Grove.

You can also take the train, on the Cross City Line, from
Birmingham New Street to Longbridge. Take a left when you leave the station and
walk straight up Longbridge Lane. Turn left at the mini roundabout and walk
down to Munslow Grove (~175 yards).

If you are driving, aim for Munslow Grove, B31.

Please be aware – this is a residential area and many of the
residents are elderly. Parking is limited and there are no facilities such as
toilets here. Also, chavs.

L x

Bonus pics:

All pics in this post were taken by me today, May 30th. Feel free to nick 'em. Click for bigger.

I’ve set this blog up really to document my mini adventures
around my home city; to promote the good bad and the ugly parts of it; to give
a sense of what goes in on in Brum, from the city centre to the suburbs I call
home; to maybe provide you with some ideas on what to do in Birmingham, and
hopefully to help the Non-Brummie realise that there’s a lot more than meets
the eye. I may even interject odd points of interest, vintage photographs, and
interviews with local people who love their city or just photos that I’ve
taken.

I’m not entirely sure if something like this already exists.
I know there is the B31 Voices blog, Birmingham: It’s Not Shit (which is for sale), Pete Ashton’s
blog(s) and umpteen others. I just want this to be a place for me to collate my
views on Birmingham, and my thoughts on what makes this such a great place to
live, work and study.

A bit about me – I'm Laura, I run and own The Geology Shop
(blog and Etsy shop). I was a Geology student at the University of Birmingham
until February 2012. I’m taking a study break. I work at the Uni; first I
worked in the bar, and then I worked in the Learning Centre. I love UoB. I was
born in Birmingham, I’ve lived in Northfield since 1996 (previous 7 years were
spent in Saudi Arabia). I love taking photos and finding new places to explore,
I love being a tourist in my own city. Hopefully this blog will encourage me to
be even more of a tourist!

I’ve also set up a twitter account for this blog -
brummiesguide – though I shall probably only use this to promote the blog
posts. If you have any questions, comments, ideas, thoughts or feedback, you
can contact me here.

Hope you enjoy reading the posts when I eventually get around
to writing some. I’m not promising a daily or even a weekly feed, but I shall
try my best.